China’s Famous City of Historic and Cultural Heritage (first batch)

        China’s Excellent Tourist City (first batch)

         One of China’s Top 30 Cities in Overall Economic Output

         National Environmental Protection Model City

         National Sanitary City

        National Garden City

         One of China’s Top Ten Fascinating Cities

         One of China’s Top Ten Best Commercial Cities

         China’s Brand Economy City

General Information

Shaoxing, one of the 16 central cities in the Yangtse River Delta, is located in the mid-north of Zhejiang Province, 230 kilometers from Shanghai to the north, 60 kilometers from Hangzhou to the west, 128 kilometers from Ningbo to the east and 30 kilometers from Hangzhou Xiaoshan Int’l Airport. It has jurisdiction over two counties, Shaoxing and Xinchang, three county-level cities, Zhuji, Shangyu and Shengzhou, and Yuecheng District. It has a total area of 8,256 square kilometers (with an urban area of 362 square kilometers), and a population of 4,350,000 (with an urban population of 640,000).

Cultural Interests and History

Shaoxing is a famous historic and cultural city in China, and the city was founded about 2,500 years ago. It enjoys the high reputation of the “Town of Green Hills and Limpid Waters, State of Historic and Cultural Relics and Land of Celebrities”. Other good names include the town of water, bridges, wine, calligraphy, traditional operas, celebrities and scholars.

Geography and Climate

Shaoxing is situated near the southeast China coast, between 29°14′-30°16′ north longitude and 119°53′-121°13′ east latitude. Its northeastern plain is a network of rivers, and its western part is hilly land.

Shaoxing has a subtropical monsoon climate, with a clear distinction of the four seasons, and plenty of rain and sunshine. The average annual temperature is 17.5 degrees, and the average annual rainfall is 1,000 mm.

City Planning

Shaoxing is now promoting the full-scale construction of a metropolis composed of the four city clusters of Yuecheng, Keqiao, Paojiang, Jiangbin and City Green Heart. It is planned that till the year 2007, the city's GDP per capita shall reach 4,500 USD, the standard of a moderate well-off society, while till 2015, the city shall have realized basic modernization, with the GDP per capita of 10,000 USD. The general aim is to build the city into a modern and ecological metropolis in the Yangtze River Delta, with a population of one million, where historic heritages and modern civilization are harmoniously integrated, and natural and civic landscape enhance each other.

The Main Indicators of the National Economy

 

Indicators	Unit	Actual Performance in 2005	Increase over 2004
Total GDP	hundred million yuan	1440	13.3
GDP Per Capita	yuan	33122	9.5
Fixed Assets Investment of Society	hundred million yuan	700	11.3
Total Fiscal Revenue	hundred million yuan	151	18.8
Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods	hundred million yuan	382	14
Total Volume of Foreign Trade	hundred million dollars	105	21.1

Natural Resources

There are many rivers and lakes in Shaoxing. The total volume of the water resources is 5.88 billion cubic meters. The freshwater breeding area is 17,000 hectares, and the cultivated land is 169,000 hectares. There are more than 60 kinds of minerals of exploitation potential and mining value, among which the reserves of diatomite are the largest in the country.

Human Resources

There are 240,000 persons with professional technical titles and 260,000 persons with technical certificates in the city. The five colleges such as Shaoxing College of Arts and Science, the 40 secondary vocational schools and the 42 senior middle schools annually supplies the country with 11,000 undergraduates, 16,000 and 22,000 graduates from secondary vocational and senior middle schools respectively. The 2,282 adult education schools and training schools reeducate and technically train nearly a million employees every year.

Per Capita Income and Consumption

The per capita disposable income of the urban residents is 17,516 yuan, an increase by 12.0% compared with that of the previous year; the per capita expenditure of the urban residents is 12,027 yuan, an increase of 13.4%; the per capita net income of the rural residents is 7,704 yuan, an increase of 10.5%; the per capita expenditure is 5,765 yuan, an increase of 9.5%.

Engel’s coefficient: urban residents: 34.0%, rural residents: 38.8%

Infrastructure

Shaoxing is one of China’s top 40 cities with the most favorable investment environment. Every county is connected by expressway and every village of the city is connected by highways, forming the transport network of “1-hour business circle and 2-hour travel circle”. The Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway, Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway, Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway, Shangyu-Sanmen Expressway, Hangzhou-Jinhua-Quzhou Expressway, Ningo-Jinhua Expressway, etc. all pass through Shaoxing. Shaoxing has easy access to communication with all the countries and regions in the world by mail and telecommunication. Shaoxing Electric Power Bureau is the first to build the ERP system among the national power supply systems, and one of the nation’s first groups of “International First Class Power Supply Enterprises”. The drinking water quality of Shaoxing has reached the standard for drinking water set by the E.E.C. Shaoxing Sewage Treatment Plant can treat 700,000 tons/day of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage. The garbage is collected and incinerated for power generation. Hangzhou Bay Cross-River Bridge—the express passage from Shaoxing to Jiaxing—has been approved by National Development & Reform Committee. After completion, the drive from Shaoxing to Shanghai will be shortened to one and half an hour.

Industrial Foundation

Manufacturing Industry

Shaoxing is the right place for international manufacturing industries that want to transfer their bases here. In the whole city, there are advantageous industries including textiles, garment, chemical materials, chemical products, general purpose equipment, electric machinery & appliances, light industry, and rice wine. In 2005, the total output value of the city’s above-scale industries was RMB 319.4 billion, an increase of 23.5% over the previous year, and the added value of above-scale high-tech manufacturing industries accounts for 24.8% of the added value of the whole city.

▲Chemical Fiber

Shaoxing is the textile production base of China. Its chemical fiber manufacturing output accounts for 47% of the total industrial output. At present, there are over 60,000 looms, including 40,000 shuttleless looms. The whole textile industry annually produces 1.847 million tons of chemical fiber, 5.43 billion meters of fabrics, 0.49 billion pieces of garments and 13.2 billion meters of printed and dyed fabrics. The annual production of hosiery is 11.6 billion pieces, which is 1/3 of the whole country. The annual production of ties is 0.3 billion pieces, which is 9/10 of the whole country. Shaoxing textile industry has formed a large enterprise cluster, making Shaoxing the area with the most advanced equipment, the highest density of shuttleless looms, and the largest output in the national textile industry.

▲High-quality Rice Wine

As one of the five cities famous for wine culture in China, Shaoxing has a wine-making history of about 2,500 years. Today, it is the largest manufacturing and export base of rice wine, with an annual output of 270,000 tons, accounting for 20% of the national total output. The annual export amounts to 20,000 tons, accounting for 3/4 of the national export volume.

▲Machine Manufacturing

Shaoxing is the largest production base of the aluminium wheels of automobiles and motorcycles. Its domestic market share of the aluminium wheels of motorcycles is over 55%. Shaoxing is the production base of small- and medium-sized blower fans, bearings, micromotors, and is the base of the domestication of environment-friendly devices. Shaoxing also enjoys an exceptional advantage in manufacturing textile machinery. Two-for-one twisters made in Shaoxing take up 80% of the Chinese market, and large-sized printing and dyeing machines take up 40% of the Chinese market.

▲Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry

Relying mainly on new antibiotic medicines, with Chinese patent medicines and medical appliances as subsidiary, the pharmaceutical industry has achieved a rapid development. Shaoxing is the largest capsule and pill production base. Its disperse dyes rank the first both in the domestic market and in overseas market. Five pharmaceutical and chemical companies are listed on the stock market, becoming the leading enterprises of this trade.

▲Light Industry & Furniture

Shaoxing is China’s largest production and export base of energy-saving lamps, and an important furniture manufacturing base and sales center in East China.

▲Electronic Information

Shaoxing is China’s largest manufacturing base and development center of VFD. Its annual output accounts for over 90% of the national total. It is a provincial and national D&R and production base of integrated circuit.

Business & Trade

Shaoxing is the one of the best commercial cities in Mainland China. In 2005, the total volume of retail sales of consumer goods was RMB 38.2 billion. Shaoxing is also the city with several famous markets. The professional markets that depend on the local industrial advantages such as textiles, ties and garments, pearls, etc. are prosperous. In 2005, there were 364 commodity transaction markets around the city, recording a transaction volume of 98 billion yuan. There were 17 markets whose annual transaction volume was over 1 billion yuan. The China Light Textile City of Shaoxing is the largest distribution center of textiles in Asia. Its transaction volume in 2005 was 27.6 billion yuan. By 2005, Shaoxing had 14 China’s Famous Trade Marks, 26 China’s Brand Names, 10 Famous Brand Exports for Key Cultivation and Development by Ministry of Commerce, 163 Zhejiang Brand Names, earning it the title of China’s Brand Economy City.

Tourism

Shaoxing is an excellent national tourist city. The long history of Shaoxing has left the city with numerous famous and historic sites. There are 213 cultural reservations of county level or above, including 9 state-level and 42 provincial-level ones, and there are also over 3,600 places of cultural relics, making Shaoxing known as “a museum without walls”. Based on its rich cultural heritage, the city boasts over 200 scenic spots and 28 scenic areas, various tour lines featuring wine culture, stone culture, bridge culture, calligraphy, Buddhism, or waters and rivers. There are 82 star-level hotels open to foreigners and 82 travel agencies operating in Shaoxing. In 2005, the city received 15.23 million tourists (including 200,000 overseas tourists), generating RMB11.6 billion yuan in tourism revenue (including 66.79 million USD in foreign exchange).

Agriculture

Shaoxing is the hometown of fish and rice. In 2005, its gross output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery was RMB13.53 billion yuan, increased by 4.8% compared with that of the previous year. In the whole city, there are 7 national seed and seedling breeding fields, 9 national agricultural development and processing projects, 10 “Hometowns of Chinese Local Products”, and 2.23 million mu of featured agricultural bases. The city has 1,079 leading agricultural enterprises of major scale, among which 93 recorded an output and sales volume of above RMB50 million yuan, and 35 above RMB100 million yuan. Of the 239 farm produce markets, 22 reached a business volume of over RMB100 million.

Construction Industry

Shaoxing is a city strong in construction. For many years, Shaoxing has topped prefecture-level cities concerning the following four indicators of construction industry: output value, added value, profit and tax, and the number of high-quality projects above provincial or ministry levels. 22 projects built by Shaoxing companies have been awarded the prestigious “Luban Prize” which is the highest award for construction engineering in China. In 2005, the construction industry generated an output value of RMB125.2 billion. The up-to-standard rate of projects reached 100%. There are 442 construction enterprises with assessed levels employing 560,000 workers. 24 enterprises have been licensed to operate in foreign countries and regions.

Opening to the outside World

▲International Cooperation and Exchange

Shaoxing is a city fully open to the outside world. It has established friendly-city relations and friendly-exchange relations with 26 cities from Japan, USA, France, Denmark, Britain, Korea, Italy, Brazil and etc.

▲Import and Export Trade

In 2005, the total volume of import and export trade of the whole city was 10.48 billion dollars, increasing by 21.1%, in which the self-managed export volume was 8.14 billion dollars, increasing by 23.2%. The city has direct trade relationships with 198 countries and areas. 2,717 self-managed export enterprises are in actual performance, and 184 achieved over 10 million dollars in export value. The foreign trade dependence degree of the national economy reached 58.2%.

▲The Use of Foreign Capital

In 2005, there were 416 newly approved foreign-invested enterprises. The contracted foreign capital was 2.021 billion dollars, increasing by 20.9%; the foreign capital in actual use was 9.01 billion, increasing by 9.4%. The 4,011 foreign-invested enterprises made a total investment of 18.32 billion dollars. The total contracted foreign capital was 8.098 billion, and the foreign capital in actual use 3.944 billion dollars. Among the world’s top 500 enterprises, Daimler Corporation from Germany, Philips Corporation from the Netherlands, Lafarge Group from France, Marubeni Corporation, Toyota Company, Nichimen Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Itochu Corporation and Sojitz from Japan have all set up enterprises in Shaoxing.

▲Overseas Cooperation

In 2005, the turnover of the foreign contracted projects and labor cooperation was 197 million dollars. 352 person/times of labor service were sent overseas, reaching 3,018 by the end of the year. There were 57 newly approved enterprises investing overseas with a gross investment value of 17,920,000 USD. The enterprises (organizations) set up overseas added up to 311 with a gross investment value of 106,130,000 USD.

I. Import & Export of Previous Years (in ten thousand USD)

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Export volume	127735	187459	290118	453313	660853	814162
Import volume	38510	59626	96918	142821	205372	234311
Import& Export	166245	247085	387035	596134	866225	1048473

II. Main Countries of Export in 2005 (in ten thousand USD)

	Export Volume	Increase over Previous Year %	Percentage%
United States	114401	52	14.1
United Arab Emirates	56776	0.8	7
Hong Kong	40729	11.2	5
Iran	31807	-9.9	3.9
Japan	31628	10.8	3.9
India	30594	112.9	3.8
Germany	26128	30.9	3.2
Korea	24828	10.4	3
Italy	22254	68.7	2.7
Brazil	20952	7.7	2.6
Others	414065	23.5	50.9

III. Main Export Products in 2005 (in ten thousand USD)

	Export volume	Increase %	Percentage %
Yarn, Fabric & Products	426763	13.8	52.4
Garment	156236	35	19.2
Electromechanical Products	105976	45.4	13
Medical & Chemical Products	40896	7.6	5
Agricultural & Sideline Products	23757	18.7	2.9
Hi-tech Products	13830	47.4	1.7

Foreign Capital Utilization of Shaoxing in Previous Years (in ten thousand USD)

Year	Contracted Foreign Capital	Foreign Capital in Place
2000	16641	11598
2001	28826	15777
2002	80175	38167
2003	150121	74271
2004	167117	82344
2005	202139	90095

Main Industries Utilizing Foreign Capital (in ten thousand USD)

Name of Industry	Foreign Capital in Place	Percentage %
Textiles	192024	48.69
Chemical, Medicine & Chemical Fiber	53774	13.63
Machinery & Electric Device	49402	12.53
Electronic Information	17472	4.43
Light Industry (Except Textile)	37677	9.55
Construction & Real Estate	12371	3.14
Business & Trade and Social Service	12436	3.15
Accommodation, Dining & Recreation	1846	0.47

Main Investing Countries and Regions (in ten thousand USD)

Country (Region)	Actual Foreign Capital	Percentage %
Hong Kong	198027	50.21
Taiwan Province	35399	8.98
Virgin Islands	28006	7.1
United States	25641	6.5
Japan	18160	4.6
Korea	13005	3.3
Britain	11164	2.83
Singapore	7094	1.8
Italy	6784	1.72
Indonesia	3774	0.96